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She Is So Not Over It

By Julie Bosman October 15, 2008 8:31 pmOctober 15, 2008 8:31 pm

It took him a while, but all signs are that Senator John McCain has forgiven President Bush for the smear campaign during the 2000 Republican presidential primaries claiming his adopted Bangladeshi daughter, Bridget, was a black child he had fathered out of wedlock.

His daughter Meghan? Not quite.

In an interview on Tuesday on “Hannity & Colmes” on the Fox News Channel, Meghan McCain, 23, above right, said she cast her vote for Senator John Kerry in 2004 because she “just couldn’t get behind President Bush.”

“I just couldn’t. It’s personal,” Ms. McCain said. “It had to do with my little sister, and like, you know, you were just saying that the wounds of a political child run really deep. And there are things that I don’t know if I’ll ever completely get over.”

Alan Colmes, the host, asked, “What about your dad now?” and she replied: “No. He’s a great forgiver, move on-er.”

Ms. McCain has re-emerged this week to promote her best-selling children’s book, “My Dad, John McCain.” She made another stop at Fox News on Tuesday, where she described her reaction to his running for president again.

“It was mixed,” she said. “My mom has openly said she was hesitant to have him run again. I was hesitant, too, just simply because I know campaigns, I know politics, I know elections, and it’s dirty no matter what happens.”

The incredible thing is that her father has now people working for him who did this to him in 2000. You would think he might have learned something about dirty campaigns, but apparently he doesn’t think he can win without it, maybe a bit like Bush back in 2000. Good thing this year, America has its head out of its behind.

So, logically then, she must also be really PO’d at her dad for hiring the very same people that launched the smear attack against him in 2000!

As the mother of an adopted child of color, I was OUTRAGED when McCain brought those disgraceful people into his campaign this time around. It said a lot to me about his character that he would hire the same men that ran such vicious attacks against him and his adopted daughter.

It was a very prescient indicator, however, of how McCain has gone on to run his campaign.

The Awful Endurance of Memory: Is It Wise to Encourage Victims to Move On?

Frankly, I think this article raises a profound issue. The people that commit crimes, or harm other people like to fantasize that their victims just “get over” the pain. In my classes, I meet mothers who have lost their children to gang violence. Their pain does not seem to have gone away.

In a similar manner, I’ve not forgotten the way I was treated when affirmative action was legal in California.

I still haven’t forgotten how it felt to know that my father could be killed by the Weatherman Underground simply because he was brave enough to show up for work. I think leaders (and terrorists like Bill Ayers) would be more careful if they remembered that their victims have long, and not short memories.

Ironically, I’ll be getting a little revenge for both affirmative action and Bill Ayers when I vote in November. Drill, baby, drill!

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…